


Too Many Skeletons (for a Single Closet)

by APenguinAteMySmarthphone



Category: HiGH&LOW (Movies), HiGH&LOW: THE WORST (TV), HiGH&LOW: the Story of S.W.O.R.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Fujio is a happy-go-lucky lovable idiot, Graphic Description, I'm sorry but people will die, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Jamuo has anxiety, Like very very vaguely unless I change my mind, Literally almost everyone is a problem child, Man I'm sorry guys this will contain suffering, Multi, Murder Mystery, My God I'm so sorry I haven't watched the whole series for 2 years my memory is awful and hazy, NON MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, Near Death Experiences, No major character death except major constitutes different things for the author, No one is ok, Non-Canon Character Interaction, Non-Canon Relationship, Ok ignore the character tags people will come and some may die there's too many to count, Swearing, There are TOO MANY characters in High Low I'm not listing them all, Tsukasa is wavering between fatigue and straight-up depression, Underage Smoking, too much swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28228647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APenguinAteMySmarthphone/pseuds/APenguinAteMySmarthphone
Summary: Tsukasa has learned to accept most of the craziness that accompanies his entry into S.W.O.R.D University, the only college in the area he could A. afford to get into, and B. receive a scholarship for. There's a fight almost daily in every corner of the campus, a drug scandal happens at least twice a week, groups of students from separate dorms can be seen throwing offensive slurs at one another when moving around to get to class, and sometimes a giant truck that appears as if it hasn't received proper maintenance for a hundred years can be seen aimlessly speeding around the grounds. He's adjusted enough to not waste his breath questioning it, as he's decidedly avoided doing with most other things: for example, why his roommate is such an immense idiot, and why he doesn't seem to mind at all. So long as he downs his painkillers every so often, he can avoid confronting the unavoidable reality that is his dorm life and the people he's found for himself. At this point, he's seen enough madness on his campus alone to last him seven lifetimes.But multiple dead bodies? That was something new.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Too Many Skeletons (for a Single Closet)

**Author's Note:**

> I have nothing else to say except I'm sorry. Please don't come after me with a knife if I kill your fav.
> 
> *Discrepancies are a result of me not having watched this series in its entirety for two years. Nothing about it follows canon or remotely references it except for base stuff, so it has no relation to the plot of H&L.

"What....the _actual_ hell...?"

The three of themーTsukasa, Yasushi, and Sachioーall stare collectively at the scene spread before them, at a loss for words. They're all standing behind a large van, covered in scrapes and dents and rusting so horribly no one can tell what the original color would have been prior to its decimation. The wheels are covered in a concerning number of scratches and decidedly not perfectly circular, and under normal circumstances Tsukasa would have found this to be a reason for alarmーthis van definitely violated a number of traffic laws, granted it hadn't killed a handful of students on this end of campus.

None of them can find the leeway to _care,_ however; the scenery spread before them is both brutally simple and horribly unrealistic, too much for them to immediately process, even when all three of them collectively know what _it_ is. It's not until Yasushi's muttered statement of utter disgust and disbelief that the other two students finally grasp what exactly it is they are all looking at. 

In the back of the van, decaying slowly and wearing clothes torn beyond repair, both eyes open wide in a blank, lifeless stare of sheer terror, is the corpse of a young woman.

* * *

_Three hours ago, Tsukasa's dorm room_

Tsukasa is convinced that there is something wrong with the roommate pairing system at SWORD University.

He can list several examples of the top of his head, but topping that list is the one he currently lives withーHanaoka Fujio, who is extremely social, quite loud, incredibly thick-headed, and also quite frankly a little crazy.

(Who the hell wears short sleeves in the dead of winter while eating ice cream? He had first thought he was losing his mind when he saw.)

Not that he particularly _dislikes_ this roommate; there are worse to be paired withーa few faces flit across his mindーand from a certain view this match was actually a bit of a blessing, considering his alternatives were students who enjoyed pushing their fellows off of rooftops or sending kicks square into the side of someone's face when irritated. He's seen students running around with oil drums full of god-knows-what and he's seen students in another dorm jumping from roof to roof to reach class. In terms of normalcy, he's lucky, although he doesn't enjoy hanging around when the excitable student calls in a party full of his friends, only for someone to get horribly drunk and start a fight. In their dorm room. At 2 fucking AM in the morning.

(And he's usually the one who cleans the mess, because everyone else is passed out, and he can't stand the smell of alcohol unless he desperately needs to forget about something.)

But he quite clearly specified on the pairing system that he preferred someone who wasn't making loud noises at ungodly hours or reveling in the antics of their more party crazy and-or alcohol inclined friends. Granted, most of them were rather polite or well-mannered (and then there were their classmates, who were just plain crazy) but Tsukasa preferred his peace and quiet.

It wasn't that he _hated_ excitement. At times, he found himself almost craving it, at a rather sickly level, but he usually didn't _do_ anything to sate the urge. Everything he's ever seen on campus to this day is enough to make him prefer a little normalcy. There's enough craziness to substitute for any longings for some fun.

Tsukasa has learned to accept most of the craziness that accompanies his entry into S.W.O.R.D University, the only college in the area he could A. afford to get into, and B. receive a scholarship for. There's a fight almost daily in every corner of the campus, a drug scandal happens at least twice a week, groups of students from separate dorms can be seen throwing offensive slurs at one another when moving around to get to class, and sometimes a giant truck that appears as if it hasn't received proper maintenance for a hundred years can be seen aimlessly speeding around the grounds. He's pretty sure it belongs to Murayama, the uncrowned king of their dorm, except sometimes he spots other students, namely the aforementioned's friends, driving it around. One time, inexplicably, Todoroki was driving it, with a few members from the Sannoh dorms watching on in abject horror as they made their way towards class.

(Probably, although this is a guess on Tsukasa's part, because the fender had come completely off and the normally cool student had seemed quite content to do further damage to the vehicle. Murayama must have _really_ pissed off his junior.)

Learning to accept it and having to _deal_ with it, however, are two entirely different things. 

Such as now.

"Fujio," Tsukasa sucks in a deep breath, trying to make sense of the state of their dorm room, "Why is Kiyoshi passed out in the bathtub? Who gave the first years alcohol? And why are there students from Housen lying in the hallway with towels tied to their heads?" He does another sweep of their room, sighing as he does so. "Who cracked the window? Don't say the same shit you said last time about stray birds and baseballs; I need to know who I'm taking money from."

Fujio scratches his head sheepishly (and Tsukasa finds himself equal parts irritated at him and himself; for the former at taking the situation lightly and at himself for not being more upset) before putting his palms together in front of his face in an exaggerated gesture of apology. "Sorry, Tsukasa, we just got a little...carried away with game night."

"And did this involve alcohol?" 

Tsukasa considered himself decent at the art of the poker face. He couldn't beat Todoroki's cool and arrogant mask, or the serene yet overpowering stares of some of the impromptu "leaders" of the differing dorms, but he knew just the right way to hold his expression to convey disappointment and disdain in equal amounts, unless he felt more of the former or latter in a given situation. 

Fujio winced, his first sign of genuine guilt. "Yasushi brought some," he admitted, "And then before I knew it GoshanーI mean, Nakagoshiーwas drinking, and for some reason that high school kid he always hangs out with was there, too, and..."

"What."

"You know!" Fujio was becoming visibly flustered, which would have brought some amount of satisfaction had their room not looked like the scene of a (very confusing) scandal. "That Nakaoka kid who sticks to him like his lackey; I forgot with all the excitement that he's not actually a student here, and then Yasushi was passing out beer to everyone and he _swore_ it was nonalcoholic at first but then Goshan and the other first years passed out andー"

"So the first years are all lightweights; yes, I knew that," Tsukasa shook his head. "And the Housen students?"

"Ah," Fujio averted his eyes, "Shida and Odajima, right? Err, well, they sorta came here with Yasushi and they kinda hit it off so everything was okay? Until they got drunk and started wrapping towels around their heads while fighting each other and that's...actually how the window broke."

"...Okay, so why is Kiyoshi in the bathtub?"

"Oh," Fujio glanced towards the bathing unit as if he'd forgotten all about it. "That. That was sorta my fault. I joked about how sitting in the bathtub in the dark actually gave you superpowers and he was completely out of it and believed me, and I...forgot he was there?"

Tsukasa was very tempted to do two things: one, eat a fistful of painkillers and sleep for the rest of the day, and two, slap everyone awake and punch them for making his life insufferable. He considered taking it out on the idiot in front of him, but he looked too much like a kicked puppy already, despite Tsukasa not having uttered a single scolding word. Yet.

He was beginning to feel too much fatigue to even bother.

"Alright," he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Alright, so here's what's gonna happen. You are going to wake _all_ of these idiots up. I don't care how, but you're doing it. And then you are going to take money from those two Housen idiots for the window, and everyone, hangover or no, is cleaning up this room. You included. If I come back and there's even a single _glass_ on the counter, unclean, I will throw all of you in front of Murayama's truck and _pay_ Todoroki to run over you."

Fujio beamed as if, somehow, Tsukasa had uttered to him a saving grace. "And you'll forgive me?" His tone was completely earnest, his entire demeanor like an overly friendly dog whose owner had given them praise. There was no malice or teasing, and that hurt Tsukasa's stomach more than it would have annoyed him had the words been laced with sarcasm.

"How the hell did it get from that to this?" Uncomfortable, he turned his head away from his roommate. 

"You're upset, right? But if I get things clean so you don't have to deal with the mess, you'll forgive me?" Fujio's tone was painfully sincere.

"That's not the issue."

"Aren't you angry?"

"I mean, yes, I am, but that's notー"

"I'll get everything done, I promise!" 

"Fujio that isn't what I'm trying to get atー!"

Tsukasa immediately regrets initiating the pointless exchange, because now Fujio looks like a puppy who's been kicked and scolded after it had approached him wagging its tail.

"Oh, for the love of........it depends on whether you _actually_ get the job done. But fine, if it gets you off of me, then yes, I'll forgive you."

He didn't have to look at the other boy to know his eyes were shining, all genuine light and no hidden malice. Sometimes he envies the man's simplicity, if only because it lets him get away with things where most others could not, and no one can hold it against him no matter what. 

"Get started," he snaps, to hide his feelings of awkwardness. "I'm going out."

Fujio tilts his head, a motion that further solidifies the puppy analogy in Tsukasa's head. "Where?"

Tsukasa grabs his jacket, which he had set down when he had returned to the room. "To find Yasushi and kill him."

* * *

The O dorms, also referred to as the Oya region of the university as a whole, houses the larger eateries on campus, although plenty of other small eat-in locations exist where the other dorms reside. On paper, each dorm is named merely for a letter in the word SWORD, but the network of information that flies between the students and even the staff points to the name SWORD actually resulting in the five dorms, which had once been separate, smaller colleges altogether, coagulating into one large university. Interestingly enough, the "names" of said colleges weren't even their official names on paper; no one knew why some colleges had names such as "Rude Boys" and "Daruma Ikka", but no one cared enough to question it either. It fit, and that was fine, and this meant that there were five interesting areas to explore; and sometimes the shit one could find was far out of the range of "university life".

Take the White Rascals region, for one. The W dorm was the haven for party loving students with too much perceived free time and not enough work ethic. 

Tsukasa found Yasushi grinning like a madman as he loitered around the back alley behind the campus' largest club; a place where, by day, official events and university-endorsed special events were typically held, and, by night, everyone collectively lost their minds and indulged in the night lives of their dreams, the kinds they fantasize about when they thought about places like Tokyo, or New York, or any other large city in the world: big and bustling hubs of life, full of colorful packs of people. Yasushi was sifting through a plastic bag with a familiar logoーit was the logo of a small, popular general store near the S dorms, the Sannoh region. Still donning a completely manic smile that probably drove away even full grown men, Yasushi dipped his hand into the bag, pulling out a chocolate cupcake. Right in front of Tsukasa's eyes, he began to devour the sugary pastry with unbridled glee, making him feel incredibly out of place and highly uncomfortable; somehow, Yasushi's style of eating made him think the cupcake would start spewing blood, with the way he was gouging at it.

Yasushi, without missing a beat as he mauls his snack, abruptly looks in Tsukasa's direction, crumbs and frosting falling onto the cracked stone pavement where he sits. "The hell are you doing here, Tsukasa?" A smirk is spreading across his face. "You missed the party last night." 

Tsukasa narrows his eyes and says nothing.

Yasushi shrugged, blabbing on as if Tsukasa hadn't ignored his remark entirely. "Those two guys from Housen were actually here to talk with Todoroki, but he gave 'em the cold shoulder. What a guy, am I right? Well, I was gonna ignore them too, but then that Yuken bastard pulls out a whole-ass case of beer and says they were looking for some downtime buddies before they headed home, and I thought, why not? It was almost night anyway."

"It's the middle of the goddamn afternoon," Tsukasa deadpans. He receives an even wider smirk in response. "And everyone is still drunk."

"I grabbed Kiyoshi, and then I thought I'd go piss off your pretty mug, but you weren't even there." And then Yasushi has the audacity to _pout_ at him, although the effect is ruined with the crazy glint in his eyes and the crumbs of cupcake decorating his mouth. "So we all decided to hang out with Fujio, maybe trash your room. Didn't think that Nakagoshi brat was gonna join us, but I figured the bigger the mess, the more of a headache you were gonna suffer afterwards." Without a shred of remorse, the fellow second year pulled his face closer to Tsukasa's, glinting eyes meeting twin orbs as still and dark as a calm sea. The corners of his mouth were quirked up, and he was visibly twitching, as if just _waiting_ for Tsukasa to punch him.

Oddly enough, this was an opponent Tsukasa _could_ handle, for all his obvious insanity. Despite Yasushi's unhinged attitude, he was a person who exudes malice when he felt it, and he was painfully obvious in his objectives. He knew how to rile people up, only to drag them down afterwards, but his motives were so apparent to Tsukasa it was laughable.

In contrast, Fujio was just soー _sincere_ in everything he did that it controversially made him difficult to understand. He wasn't all sunshine and bubbles, exactly, but his motives were too pure for Tsukasa sometimes; he was so used to being around people who knew when and where to show malice that the concept of someone who never once attempted to rile someone up on purpose was beyond him.

When Tsukasa failed to give Yasushi the response he desired in time, he received a snort from the latter. The long-haired second year moved back, leaning against the alley wall, looking disappointed. 

"Are you some kinda robot?" Yasushi's voice is laced with scorn. "I don't think I've ever seen you give me a fun reaction, ever."

"Sorry to disappoint," Tsukasa hunches his shoulders in response, a mock sign of false guilt. "Did you ever consider then, that I'm not worth it anymore and you should go try your luck with someone else?" He receives no response, only a fiery glare, followed by a resumption of his devouring of the cupcake.

It is not very fun to watch, so Tsukasa fixes his gaze on the passing figures he can spot through the alley entrance. Students in getup they wouldn't normally wear to class walk briskly to and fro, all taking advantage of their winter break. He imagines where they're all headed, and envies them for the determination with which they carry themselves to a good time.

"Where were you last night, anyway?" Yasushi has finished devouring the pastry, the pavement below him a mess of chocolate frosting flakes and crumbs. He doesn't seem to mind the mess at all, doing little more than swiping the remains off his mouth with the back of his hand. "I kinda figured you would come bursting through the door any minute, but you didn't even come back when morning hit."

"I was helping Motoaki, although that's not any of your business," Tsukasa retorted, shooting the other second year the slightest of glances. "He wanted to get something done at his job fast, before the other workers got there the next morning. Something about it taking too much time? Anyway, it wasn't too difficult, so I agreed."

"Motoaki?" Yasushi raised an eyebrow. "Sakata? _That_ crazy brat? The attention seeker?"

"You're one to talk," Tsukasa retorted. Outside the alley, a gaggle of young female students, all dressed in showy clothing that definitely wasn't protecting them from the cold passed by, squealing loudly in high-pitched tones. When one of them let out a shrill giggle at some joke her friend made, Yasushi stuck a finger in his ear, wincing visibly. "And we're all quite literally the same age, so the 'brat' was uncalled for." 

"Eh," Yasushi shrugged. "He's still a brat. But then why didn't you come back afterwards?"

"I missed the last train," Tsukasa snapped, and received an earful of shrill laughter in response. "Don't laugh, it hurts my earsーanyway, Motoaki felt guilty about it and invited me over for the night, and I thought 'eh, why not?' And it turned out to be a good idea in the long run; I managed to avoid you lot for the night." Motoaki's appearance belittled a surprisingly earnest personality, although he wouldn't dispute the "attention seeker" portion of Yasushi's words. Their new friend had an interesting way of expressing his desire for social interaction, and he'd only recently calmed down because he'd finally gained some of it in the form of the younger student body of Oya dorms. Mainly, him, Fujio, and their own group of "friends"ーalthough Tsukasa was sometimes curious as to what that constituted for them. 

Yasushi snickered, "Even you make mistakes too, huh, mister robot?" His tone was full of unbridled glee. "Just _wait_ 'till I tell Fujio about this."

Tsukasa shot him a scornful look. "And why the hell would Fujio care, for the matter?"

Yasushi gave him a look of intense mocking pity, "You're fairly dense yourself, aren't you?"

"The hell is that supposed toー"

The two of them are interrupted by the sudden buzz of a phone, coming from Tsukasa's pocket. Throwing Yasushi another frosty glare before pulling the device out, Tsukasa pushes the button to pick upーand promptly regrets it when an unfamiliar voice begins speaking to him.

"Um, is this Takajo? Takajo Tsukasa?" Scratch that; the voice was vaguely familiar, but not so much that it immediately gave him a name and a face. There was a tug at his memory, a vague one. 

"Depends. Who's asking?" He tried to curb the hostility in his tone, but it comes naturally, not so much a learned reaction but a natural animal instinct. Yasushi perks up with interest, smelling the potential of conflict with those words. Such concerns are dashed, however, when the speaker gives him their name.

"I'm Ueda Sachio, from Housen. Sorry, but you wouldn't happen to know where my friends are, would you?"

* * *

They meet up in a cafe, in the S district. It's quieter than Oya and there is less electricity in the air. The students have more practical clothing suited to the winterーa sharp contrast to the party goers they had been observing from the alley in the W area. From the second story of the small cafe, Tsukasa can see groups of students walking languidly through the district, bags in their hands and cheeks red from the sting of the wind and likely the fun they are enjoying. Outside, the sun is steadily setting, painting the buildings a hue of orange as afternoon gradually transforms to evening.

The inside of the cafe smells of coffee and sweet pastries. It's a homey, relaxing scent that puts him at ease, relaxing the tension in his shoulders. In front of him is a cup of coffee, and a slice of cake. Despite his protests, Sachio had insisted on treating himーand by extension, Yasushi, who had tagged along for some reasonーas an apology for the chaos his friends had caused. He'd seen them getting on the train with a full case of beer, and had suspected the worst. 

(In that case, he feels it is _Yasushi_ who owes them all an apology, but the crazed student is merely stuffing his faceーagainーwith a sweet pastry. He doesn't drink coffee; instead, he orders a hot chocolate, and Tsukasa marvels that the sugar intake hasn't killed him yet. He still has a hard time believing the guy _likes_ sugary things this much.)

"Fujio gave me your number a while ago," Sachio scratches his head sheepishly as he says this, an embarrassed smile on his lips. Numerous apologies on behalf of his two friends had been made, and more than once he had insisted on giving Tsukasa the money for the repairs over the damages. Tsukasa had refused each time; he would much rather the two culprits paid than take the money from their sincere friend. "I never had the chance to use it, and I figured it would be off-putting if a random stranger suddenly called claiming your roommate was an acquaintance." Yasushi barks a laugh, and Tsukasa has to fight the urge to strangle the other, whose presence is becoming increasingly more bothersome with his apparent lack of manners.

"That sounds like something he would do," Tsukasa sighed, lifting his coffee to his lips. "If he's said or done anything remotely stupid and caused you trouble then I'm sorry on his behalf."

Sachio's response was a huff of laughter. "You two seem to be very close friends."

"Attached at the hip, these two," Yasushi piped up mockingly. "If they've already done each other already I wouldn't be surpー"

Tsukasa restrains himself from splashing hot coffee in the other's face, instead resorting to kicking his leg under the table with as much force as possible. He receives a yelp of pain and a burning glare for his efforts. Sachio raises an eyebrow in amusement.

"You're free to leave anytime, Yasushi."

"You're not getting rid of me that easy, Tsukasa."

Sachio's laughter is a little louder this time. "You two seem fairly close yourselves." His eyes twinkle with a teasing light.

" _This_ bastard?! No way in hell."

"I didn't ask for him to follow me around," Tsukasa rolled his eyes. "But somehow he doesn't take the hint."

Yasushi rises up, likely raring for a fight, but he freezes at the abrupt jarring noise of a ringtone from on top the tableーthe second time that day. Only this time, it's from Sachio's phone, and from the way he scrunches his eyebrows together, he's likely as surprised by the call; although, perhaps, not as caught off guard as when Tsukasa had received a call from _him._

"Odajima?" Sachio's voice is light, although there's still a hint of surprise behind it. "What is it?" A pause. "No, I'm in the S area; I'm treating the roommate whose room you trashed...huh? Where in the S district? Umm..." Tsukasa mouths 'northern end' at him silently, and the Housen student gives him a thankful nod in response. "Tsukasaーthat's the roommate's nameーsays we're currently in the northern end. Why? I thought you two were gonna wait at the station. Isn't that between the R and W dorms?" Another pause. "An emergency? What do you mean, an emergency?" Yasushi shoots Tsukasa a quick glance, which he returns just as shortly. 

" **What?!** "

They both nearly leap out of their seats, and several of the remaining customers whirl around as well, or shoot them surreptitious glances. Sachio barely seems to notice, rising from his chair. His voice grows in volume as he continues, "Odajima you guys found aー" before cutting himself off, glancing around as if just remembering where he is. "Stay there; I'll be right over. Did you call the police? ....Well why the hell didn't you?!"

"What is it?" Tsukasa asks as soon as Sachio ends the call. "Did something happen?" 

Sachio only bites his lip in response, eyes averted. Either he can't really tell the two of them, strangers he's just become acquainted withーor something has happened beyond the scope of his understanding, something he can't easily convey through the limits of spoken language. He fumbles with his phone as his eyes swim over the cafe, in the manner of someone lost. Tsukasa doesn't really like to pryーwould prefer not to, reallyーbut his instincts tell him it's an emergency that requires some action, and he knows he'll feel guilty simply taking his leave. That is, unless Sachio would definitely _not_ prefer the company. 

"I...I need to go," Sachio grabs his coat, picking up his tray. "I'm sorry, but something came up. An emergency."

Yasushi narrows his eyes at this. "Need a hand with that?"

"Oh, this?" Sachio looks at the tray. "No, I can carry it myselfー"

"Not that," Yasushi is already standing up, slouched in a position of indifference while his tone suggests anything but. "Your...emergency. Sounds like your friends are in a bit of a tight spot." It wasn't a question, or a request. This was the tone Yasushi used when he'd made up his mind to do something, and Tsukasa knew nothing anyone said would convince him otherwise.

"I couldn't ask you two toー"

"So don't," Haphazardly, Yasushi all but shoves his chair violently in, grabbing his own tray in one hand so it tips precariously. "Just think we tagged along. Of our own accord."

Tsukasa raised an eyebrow at him. "'We?'"

"Don't play dumb, TsukasaーI know you're coming too." Yasushi leers at him. 

And as much as he hates to admit it, Yasushi is right. He's already standing, ready to exit the cafe as well. Part of him worries that they are imposing on a potentially private matter, but his instincts tell him it's something of a different severityーthe kind that had upset Sachio in a more startling than personal way. And Tsukasa's impression of the guyーalthough this was their first time speakingーwas that he wasn't an easy person to shake.

Naturally, of course, this was all conjecture. But Tsukasa was confident enough in his gut to trust it when he needed to. 

And his gut told him to tag along.

* * *

_Present_

The entire way there, Sachio had said very littleーnot an explanation of the emergency, although Tsukasa suspected it was moreso his preoccupation with trying to find his friends. They'd given him a location, but they were Housen students unfamiliar with the dorms of SWORD and so their landmarks and directions were not easy to decipher. Store names would have helped, but as it turned out the two hadーfor some reasonーstumbled across a parking lot with few to no landmarks in sight; nothing easily identifiable for the two students at the university anyway. After some twists and turns and navigating through countless parking lots, they finally spotted two figures in gray garbーthe standard university jackets that Housen students were quite content with donning despite them being rather simple in design and coloring. 

"Sachio." Shida, if Tsukasa recalls correctly, looks relieved at the sight of his friend, although that expression stiffens when he notices the addition of him and Yasushi. 

"Hmm," Odajima narrows his eyes at the two of them, giving Tsukasa a once-over as he comments, "Y'know, Fujio was bragging about his roommate quite a lot while he was drunk, and I suppose I can see some of it. At the very least, this one _is_ pretty."

"Why'd you bring them?" Shida looks a little flustered. "This isn't the type of thing...it's not..."

"Just show us." Tsukasa doesn't think he's imagining the whiteness of Sachio's face, or the nervous sweat on Shida's. Even Odajima, from the few times he's seen him, doesn't seem to have the same laid-back posture as he gestures towards one of the vehicles in the parking lotーand it is then that Tsukasa notices it too, the single, battered van in the middle of a nearly empty parking lot. The parking lots were rarely full to begin with, but the winter break made them feel virtually abandoned.

Already from a distance could Tsukasa tell it was a creepy van, the kind that would prompt parents to pull their children close when it passed, and would later warn them about. The dingy kind that screamed suspicion and exuded a wild sort of aura, sharp and feral. The type one would normally not approach, except that was what they were doing, while Shida stuck his hands in his pockets and stared hard at the ground, and Odajima followed behind them slowly, not uttering a single word. Even Yasushi, for all his bluster, stayed quiet for once.

Until they reach the back of the van, its rear doors flung open, one hanging on its hinges as if it had been forced out of place.

"What....the _actual_ hell...?"

The three of themーTsukasa, Yasushi, and Sachioーall stare collectively at the scene spread before them, at a loss for words. Tsukasa feels a wave of fatigue and jolting pain flash through his head, and can already foresee the nightmares he will have, in the dark and under a blanket of eerie quiet. This was the sort of scene he read about in novels full of blood and betrayals and mysteries, the sort of thing he had never imagined he would face in real life.

It was much, _much_ more horrible than anything a novel could ever describe.

In the back of the van, decaying slowly and wearing clothes torn beyond repair, both eyes open wide in a blank, lifeless stare of sheer terror, is the corpse of a young woman.


End file.
